Department of Defense Chooses North Carolina HBCU for Major Award

The Department of Defense (DoD), through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, recently announced awards totaling $15 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to establish Centers of Excellence (COEs) in Biotechnology and Materials Science.

The two awardees are North Carolina A&T State University, Center for Biotechnology. NC A&T and collaborative partner, Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine, will lead research to develop technology for detection and monitoring of chemical and biological threat agents using an integrated micro-engineered organ equivalent system. The proposed system will be used to characterize the effect of various pharmacological and toxicological agents—including threat agents relevant to national defense.

Meanwhile, Morgan State University will partner with Johns Hopkins University to explore the technological potential of an emergent class of two-dimensional (2D) materials for use by the Defense Department.